Straits of Magellan

Sources from old books

1635. Historia mundi: or Mercator's atlas. London. by Gerhard Mercator.

ANd so much concerning Southerne America: Fretum Magellanicum or the Straites of Magellan are now briefely to be unfolded and described. It was so called from Magellan who discoverd this narrow Sea. Of whose skill and experience which hee shewed in finding out the Molucco Ilands by a Voyage made Westward, wee have spoken other wheres. He on the 24. of August when the winde stood faire, weighed Anchor out of S. Iulians Bay, where he had laine a long time, being not vexed so much with windes and high Seas, as the civell dissentions of the Castellanians and Portugals. After hee sayled some dayes Southward, hee came to the Promontory of the holy Crosse. Here one of his Ships runne a shore, but the Men, Ordnance, and fraight was saved. Afterward when he observed that the shore did bend a little from the South Eastward, hee began to bee in hope of reaching the Straites. And on the 26. of November this narrow passage was discover'd, into which Magellan with foure other Ships entred. Here they thought good to stay in a certaine Bay, and to send 3. Ships before to •ound the passage, and to make discovery. One of the Ships in which was Alvarus Meschita, having past thorow, stood out to Sea againe, and so directing their course Northward, it was brought first to Aethiopia, and afterward to Spaine, and 8. moneths after they had left their company, Alvarus was brought before Charles King of Castile as a Captive. The third Ship made report that it was a straite narrow Sea, by observing the flowing and ebbing of the Sea. It was the Moneth of November and the night was five houres long, the shore on the right hand and the left, or the Starbord and Larbord shore was very solitary and no creature to be seene, but that on the left side they saw a great fire. And this was the cause why they called that Country Terra del Fuego, and they supposed that the Inhabitants had discoverd them. Magellan having left 2. Ships in this manner, he furnished the other according as was fitt for the present occasion, and discovering all as he went, two and twenty dayes after he entred the Bay or Straite he was brought into another Sea, which for the quiet peaceablenesse thereof he called Mar del Zur, or Mare P•cificum, that is, the peaceable Sea. But this Straite being environd on every side with high Rocks, is 120. miles long: or according to others 76. miles: the breadth of it is not equall, and very different, for sometimes it is 2. or 3. miles broad, and sometimes 10. or 5. and where it is narrowest it is a mile broad. The Northerne Sea on the East side is carried betweene the Straites of either land 70. miles and more, where it mingleth with the Southerne Sea, on the West side winding thorow those Promontories, it meeteth with the Northerne Sea, where their Waves meete very violently, and with a great noise, so that all the Sea is coverd with froth. The Southerne Sea doth flow and ebbe more gently, for the Westerne part of the Bay being very deepe and broader•, affordeth a quieter passage to the Sea when it floweth. But the Easterne part of the Straites is full of Flats and Sands, and many Ilands, which causeth the raging and troublesomenesse of the Seas: on either Shore there are high trees. Moreover, when Magellan had layne halfe a yeere in these Southerne parts, hee viewed and discoverd nothing but the shoares, but the innermost parts of the Country remained unknowne, but yet it is manifest that that part which lyeth Southward, is most of it a Mountainous, Woodly Country, and hath Snow continuall upon it. Some say blue Snow hath beene found here, which I leave to others judgement. Magellan called this Southerne Land del Fugo from the fire or fires, for when he discoverd these Straites he saw no mortall creature, but he often beheld in the night time many great fires (as we said before) on the left hand.* 1.1 But the Southerne Land on the West side doth looke toward both the Iavas, Summatra, and the Molucco's, on the East it hath Affrick, and the Aethiopian Ocean: on the North it hath the Straites of the Magellan Bay,* 1.2 and the Land of the Patagons. The Country on either shore is barren and unfruitful, but yet it hath great strange unknowne Trees.* 1.3 Here are at all times great store of Pinguines, Cormorants, and Sea-calfes. For the Pinguines come hither in the moneth of September, and doe hatch their young ones in October. In the Moneth of Aprill they flie to the Sea:* 1.4 and after they are gone there commeth great store of Cormorants. They are called Pinguines apirguedine, from their fatnesse, the old one doe weigh 13.14. or 16. pounds, the younger 8. or 12. pound. They are black on the backe, and white on the belly, and they have a Milke white circle round about their neck. Their backs are like the Sea Calves, and as thicke as a Hogge, which you cannot pierce with a Speare. Their Bill is bigger than a Crowes bill, but not crooked. Their necke is thicke and short. Their bodies are as bigge as a fat Goose, but not so broad. They have no wings, in stead whereof they have two pinnions coverd with feathers, which hang downe like wings, which doe make them swim wonderfull fast. They live by Fish, for they are Water-Fowle. They goe straite upright, with those pinnions hanging downe. They have black feete like Geese, but not so broad. If any pursue them, they will cry with a voyce like a man. Mergus or the Cormorant is so called by Varro Lib. 4. concerning the Latine tongue, because mergendo se in aquam, captat escam, he getteth his food by diving into the water unto whom Ovid in his Metamor. Lib. 11. concerning Aesacus the sonne of Priam doth assent, where he singeth thus.

Aequor ama•, nomenque manet, quia mergitur illi. Hee loves the Sea, and keepes that name,Because he dives into the same.

And though divers kindes of Water-fowle doe the same, yet the ancient Latines did call this kinde of Bird onely Mergus, or a Cormorant, which the Greekes doe call 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉▪ the Italians Corvo Marino, the Germanes Tu•her, and the English doe call a Cormorant. Turner an Englishman saith that this Bird is as bigge as a Goose, of a browne colour, having a long Bill and crooked in the end, flat footed, heavie bodyed, the shape of her body when she standeth upright is like a Bird sitting. Pliny writeth that she buildeth her Nest in Trees: but Aristotle saith upon the Sea Rocks. Ovid calleth that Bird which hath long legges, and a great throat a Cormorant, for he saith,

—Longa internodia crurum,Longa manet cervix, caput est a corpore longe. His Thighs, and Neck both long are,His Head is from his body farre.

The Cormorants contrary to all other Birds have their feete under their tayle, so that when they stand on the ground they beare their breasts strait upright as men doe, as the Author of the Booke of naturall matters writeth, Pliny calleth Phoca Phooke, and the Sea-calfe. Albertus also calleth it the Sea Wolfe, and otherwhiles the Sea Dog, the Germanes call Ein meer Kalb, and the English call it a Seale. It doth Bay like a Calfe, his tongue is cloven into two parts, his teeth are like Sawes, and his hinder feete like the tayles of Fishes: it hath a small tayle which is coverd with skinne and haire. It hath feete like a Whelpe, and it is as hairy as a Goate, and it hath a hayrie skin, full of black and white spots, as Isodorus witnesseth. Isidorus calleth the Sea Calfe Bo•pin, from the greatnesse of his eyes, because they are like Oxe eyes. Albertus writeth that he hath shining eyes. Aristotle saith that he hath no eares but hollow holes to heare withall. Pliny saith that it doth give suck to her young ones. It is hard to be kill'd unlesse it be strooke on the temples of the Head. For all the body of it is fleshy, as Pliny and Aristotle doe write. They breed on the Land, and engender like Dogges. It roareth aloud when it sleepeth, and it sleepeth alwayes on the Land. But the Sea which we come into after we have passed these Straites. Magellan called the Pacifick Sea, because hee had there for the most part a faire calme winde,* 1.5 or else in regard of the vast spaciousnesse of the Sea, hee was not troubled with any whirle windes, now Mariners doe commonly call it Mar del Zur, or the Southerne Sea. This Sea albeit it were unknowne to the ancients yet it had a name, for Pliny and Orosius call it the Orientall or Easterne Sea. Ptolemy falsely calls it the great Bay, when he should have call'd it rather the great Sea. For it is the greatest Sea in the World. Paulus Wenetus describeth it by the name of the Sea •in, and Haithomus Armenus, whom Ortelius otherwheres calleth, Antonius Curchinus calleth it the Sea Cathai. And though ancient Writers doe name it, yet it was not well knowne or discoverd, before Ferdinand Magellan sayled thorow it. Vascus Nunnius in the yeere 1513. had a view of it from the Coast of Peruvia. But Magillan in the yeere of Christ 1520. having passed the Straites which we described before, archieved an Herculean enterprize in discovering this Sea, which whether any Ship had sayld on before, it is uncertaine. Those that have described the new World, doe say that this Sea is deepest about the unfortunate Ilands, which are now knowne by the name of Tuberones and St. Peters Ilands, and that it hath Pearles on the Coast of Peruvia: and that there are in it 7440. Ilands, so that some doe not undeservedly call the Westerne part of it the Archipelagus, because this is full of Ilands like the Aegean Sea, which containe the Ciclades, the Sporades, and many other scattering Ilands, and it is commonly call'd the Italian Archipelagus. Francis Vlloa and Antonius Pigiafelta doe relate that there groweth in the Sea a certaine kinde of Hearbe which is 14. or 1•. Cabits high, and that it groweth about the Sea 4. or 5. Cubits high, so that it seemeth not to grow in the Sea but in a greene Meddow. I with Ortelius doe suppose this to be that which Pliny and Antigonus doe mention out of Megasthenes, namely, that all the Easterne Ocean, or Indian Sea is coverd with Woods. And that place in Aristotle is agreeable hereunto, who writeth that the Phoenicians who inhabited Gadyra, when they had sayled beyond Hercules Pillars, arrived at certaine Countries which were full of weedes and Reedes. Polibius writeth that the Sea which washeth Portugall hath Oakes in it. Adde to this that which Theophrastus hath 4. Histor. Plantar. Cap. 7.8, 9. and that which Aelianus hath 13. Animal. cap. 3. and Arrianus concerning the Indies: also Strabo 16. and Plin. 11. cap. 103.* 1.6 and the same 6. cap. 22. & 13. cap. 25. Plutarch in his naturall Questions, and concerning the face of the Moone. But of these things enough. The Southerne people are of a lowe stature, but the Northerne people are of a great large stature, so that they are commonly 11. or 13. foote high, they are of a white colour as our Northerne people: but have such loude horrible voices, so that it is more like the lowing of an Oxe, or the braying of an Elephant, than a humane sound. And they are so agill and nimble that they will out-runne and overtake Deere, so that they are hardly wounded with a Musket shot, unlesse they goe in troopes together, or at unawares. And this is an Argument of their strength, the one of them will take up an Hogshead of Wine and bring it a Ship-boord, and 3. or foure will hale a Ship from the shoare, which 30. of our men can hardly doe. The cause of their whitenesse and largenesse of stature is attributed to the coldnesse and humidity or moistnesse of the Country, because the Country being alwaies loaden with Snow, maketh it continuall Winter. It is a very barbarous and cruell Nation, and hath no knowledge of humanity, but are onely ledde by the instinct of nature like beasts to any object that is before them. But the Southerne people are thought to be more inhumane, who living under the An•arrick Circle are voide of all humanity. When they would shew a stranger some token of friendship or goodwill, which they doe very seldome, among their Songs and Dances, they cast dust upon their Heads, or if they see others doe it they esteeme it as a rare complement of friendship. When they goe to Warre they chuse a Captaine, unto whom they are all obedient, the most of them are so cunning and skilfull in their Bowes, that they will hit whatsoever they ayme at, and when an Arrow sticketh in a Planck of a Ship, it can hardly be pulled forth againe. They have great Bowes, and they make their Bowstrings of wilde beasts guts, and as bigge as ones Thumb: they are armed also with great woodden swords; and they use the sling, with which they will hit any thing they ayme at within their reach. And thus they defend their liberty though to no purpose, for no man will take the paines to goe unto those cold Countries, and there to fight with these bloody Giants for no reward. The Inhabitants doe clothe themselves with the skins of wilde beasts and Sea-wolves, which they hunt every day. There are also Estriches, with whose feathers they adorne and deck themselves, and they make holes thorow their faces, in which they put a greene kinde of Marble, they get their food and cloathing by hunting. And they desire to take Sea-wolves not so much for their flesh as for their skinnes, for they have found by often experience that their flesh is hard and unsavory. There are also great store of Whales, with the bones thereof they build them Cottages. In the first entrance into the Magellan Sea, there is a new Castle which Philip the second King of Spaine commanded to be built there for the defence of these •traites in the yeere 1582. after that Francis D•ake an English Knight, having passed these Straites, came into the Paciffick Sea, and sayled even to Quivira, to finde a passage by the Northerne Straites into England. But the cold was so intolerable, that when he came to 62. degrees of Altitude, in the yeere 1581. on the No•es of June he turn'd his course toward the Aequinoctiall, and having spoiled Iava, his Ship call'd the Victory, having sayled by Asia and all the Coast of Affrick, returned againe into England. After him Thomas Candish did deserve the same praise, who kept the same course, and with wonderfull speed and celerity sayled round about the whole world. And so much shall suffice concerning the Straites of Magellane, and the fourth part of the world, America. The discovery whereof all Writers of our age doe worthily attribute to Christopher Columbus. For he first found it out, and made it knowne to the Christian World, and did communicate the use thereof, in the yeere 1492. He that desires a larger explication of these matters, let him have recourse to Laevinus Apollonius, Peter Martyr of Mediola•um, Maximilianus Transilvanus, who have written thereof in Latine; also the Jesuites Epistles, and Maffeius concerning the Indies, and others.

1685. Geographia universalis: the present state of the whole world by Pierre Duval.

Magellanica is at the point of Southern America, near the Streights of Magellan. 'Tis sometimes called Chica, and the Country of the Patagons. 'Tis is a Land very poor and subject to cold, by reason of its high Mountains, whereon Snow is almost ever lying. The Natives dwell in Dens, where they adore the Devil, for fear he should do them some mischief. The English, Spaniards, and Hollanders, have given very different Names to the places to which they have resorted. The Spaniards, in the time of their King Philip the Second, built Ciudad del Rey Filippe, and some other Fortresses at the Eastern entrance of the Streight of Magellan, with design to hinder their Enemies from passing into the South-Sea; But the Channel was found too large for the compassing such an Enterprize, and the want of Victuals caus'd that Colony to perish there. So that Ciudad was called Puerto del fame. The Haven of St. Julian, where Magellan wintered and punished his Mutineers, and the wish'd-for Haven, are upon the Eastern Coast. Here is Sweet Water, wherewith most Ships have provided themselves, as those of Magellan, Drake, Candish, Olivier de Nort, le Maire, Schouten, and others, that have touch'd there. The Spanish Relations affirm, there are Men called Patagons, ten foot high, that will thrust Arrows of two foot and a half long, down to the bottom of their stomach, and drew 'em out again, without receiving any harm; that eat at one Meal, a great Basket full of Bisket, and drink as much Wine, as a Horse can drink Water; that one alone can carry a Tun of Wine; that three or four of 'em can launch a Ship into the Sea; that they run as swift as Staggs; and lastly, that fifty Spaniards can hardly bind one of these Patàgons. The English, who have since landed in Magellanica, relate things quite contrary to what is before specified, and say, that the Inhabitants there are not bigger than the Europeans.